Wrecked vehicle pulled from Lake Banook
Posted Apr 13, 2012 04:51:57 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A police dive team searched a wrecked vehicle in frigid Lake Banook today after the car lost control, crashed into a pole and plunged into the water in Dartmouth overnight.
Halifax Regional Police stayed on scene until a tow truck pulled the sedan from the water.
“Given the fact that the vehicle is submerged, we have to bringing trained drivers in order for a tow truck to hook up to it,” said Const. Brian Palmeter. “The vehicle will then be seized and we’ll do an examination of the vehicle to see how it might assist us in our investigation.”
Emergency responders rushed to Prince Albert Road, near Sinclair Street, in Dartmouth at 12:01 a.m. after getting a report of a single-car accident.
The efforts of one brave person were not enough to save a man’s life after his car spun off the road and plunged into a Dartmouth lake today.
Regional police say another motorist watched as a driver, travelling east, suddenly lost control of his car. The vehicle crossed the center line, hit the curb and a power pole and then plunged into Lake Banook.
“The witness of the accident stopped his vehicle and quite bravely entered the water,” Sgt. Lindsay Hernden told News 95.7 Friday morning. “He smashed out the passenger side window of the vehicle and removed the driver, the sole occupant of the car, and pulled him to the shoreline.”
The victim suffered serious injuries and was rushed to the QEII, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
The identity of the 30-year-old man is not being released until next of kin have been notified.
Prince Albert Road, between Sinclair and Hawthorn streets, was closed for approximately five hours as police continued to investigate.
“The cause of the accident remains under investigation at this time and it’s too early to say exactly what may have caused it, but speed may have been a factor,” said Hernden.
This is the second fatal crash in the area in a few years.
Coun. Gloria McCluskey (Dartmouth Centre) said a guardrail separating the street from the lake is not the solution.
“Hundreds of drivers pass that turn and every night,” said McCluskey. “It’s not that we have a lot of accidents there. Unfortunately we’ve had two fatal accidents where they’ve hit a pole. It’s all a matter of them driving too fast.”
Residents in the area have mixed opinions on whether the guardrail which runs along part of the street should be extended all the way down the length of the lake.
“There have been quite a few accidents over the last many years, but I don’t think we need anything like that along here. People just need to be more careful when they drive,” said one area residents who said he drives this stretch of road daily.
“If people are driving at a good speed than I think it would be alright but sometimes there are people who come flying around there,” said one student who stopped on her way to class to look at the car in the lake. “I think a guardrail would be good, especially after that. It’s a scary thought.”
